Question: Who will be the owner of the property?
Answer: MACCLM is a Massachusetts state registered non profit entity. The entity will be the owner of this property.
Question: How can I be confirmed about the ownership?
Answer: The document signing regarding property purchase will be done in a public ceremony right after the Eid ul-Adha prayer. Once the property is purchased, you can also find the ownership information from the registry of deeds website.
Question: Who will have authority over the property?
Answer: MACCLM board will be responsible for managing it.In the near future, MACCLM board will publish a set of clarifications regarding who/how the property related decisions will be made in future.
Question: The property was listed for only $0.9M, why did you pay $1.31M?
Answer: The tax assessed value of the property is $1.42M. The agent listed it at a low price to encourage bidding. There were 12 bidders in the process and we won the deal based on best terms and price. Before making any offer, MACCLM board took price opinions from local real estate professionals.
Question: Have you done due diligence before making an offer?
Answer: Yes. MACCLM board members visited the property multiple times. They worked with town and other professionals to understand any wetland, deed restrictions, town sewer, zoning, violations, historic nature, etc. Alhamdulillah, everything looked great.
Question: Who made the decision about this purchase?
Answer: MACCLM board collectively made the decision. Each step in the purchase process was discussed extensively and approved by the board members. The highest and best offer price was approved by the board based on price opinion from real estate professionals and other bids.
Question: What are the key terms of the purchase?
Answer: No financial contingency i.e. have to pay cash of $1.31M. No inspection contingency, the property is being purchased as-is, where-is condition. The closing will be on 16th June but the owner will leave the property on August 16.
Question: Have you discussed the purchase with the community?
Answer: After the initial offer was accepted, MACCLM board discussed the purchase with some major donors.
Question: What is the current financial status of MACCLM?
Answer:
$ 800,000 - Current Bank Funds
$ 250,000 - Additional Commitments
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$1,050,000 - Total Available
$1,350,000 - Total needed in cash to purchase the property
We anticipate needing an additional $300,000 in cash by June 16th. Once the purchase is complete, MACCLM will publish a report detailing our overall financial standing, including donations received, donation pledged and Qard-e-Hasan funds.
Question: What is the size of the new property?
Answer: The property is 1.14 acres. Our current one is 1.39 acre but we cannot use the front side of it. So the effective area available for parking is the same for both properties.
Question: What type of building is there?
Answer: The property has 2 buildings. The main building is about 3460 square feet. It also has a separate small building (“The Barn”) in good condition.
Question: Is there any street parking available?
Answer: Unfortunately, no. However, there is a school on the opposite side. We plan to discuss with them about using their parking on weekends.
Question: Can we go to check out the property?
Answer: Unfortunately No. The owner still lives there. She will hand over the property on August 16th. We are allowed to visit only after the property is handed over to us.
Question: Were other alternatives considered?
Answer: Yes. For the last 2 years, the board has looked at every property that came on market below $2.5M and over 1 acre. These included houses, land and commercial properties. The board had put offers on a couple of these properties but were out bid.
Question: Should we build a new mosque or renovate the existing house?
Answer: After we complete the purchase on June 16th, MACCLM will hire skilled engineers and architects to create plans for either renovating the house or building a new mosque. We will share these options and their costs with the community before making a final decision.
Question: What is the status of the current location at 344 Lowell St?
Answer: MACCLM appointed an attorney to work with Dr Jaleel and Sister Shermeen’s attorney to come up with a resolution of pending issues. In the meantime, MACCLM continues to pay the due rent.
Question: How much money will be needed to build a new mosque?
Answer: It will take some time for engineers and architects to propose plans. But once complete, MACCLM will present the options and cost estimates to the community.
Question: Who runs MACCLM?
Answer: There is a board of directors. You can find their information on the website.
Question: Is there a by-law of MACCLM?
Answer: Yes. You can find the by-laws here.
Question: How do the board members get paid?
Answer: MACCLM board and committee members are all volunteers. They donate their time for the sake of Allah. They do not get any payment from MACCLM.
Question: How do you select board members? Is there a criteria/qualification? What is the term limit?
Answer: New Board members are elected by existing board members. There is no formal criteria. Each term is 2 years.
Question: Being a non-profit organization, have you looked into any state, federal, or town funding that may be available? Are you looking into fundraisers in neighboring towns/masajid?
Answer: MACCLM board is in the process of forming a fundraising committee. This committee will look into both options.